For the second week in a row, Emery County teams were in the state championship game for basketball in Richfield. The Green River Pirates boys basketball team recorded a second place finish in 1A action. Although they came up short in the end, the run was worth it as the Green River Pirate boys’ basketball team made it all the way to the Utah State 1-A finals before losing to the team that had been ranked number one in the state for most of the season. The final was 65-45 for the Rich Rebels over the Pirates.
Both Green River and Rich had played a game each day beginning on Wednesday but it was the Pirates that apparently ran out of gas in the final game. Green River’s starters had played a lot of minutes throughout the week as each of the first three games that they played were contests right up to the end. Rich High in their first three games had bigger cushions which allowed more players to play and also relieved the pressure just a little.
Rich defeated Diamond Ranch on Wednesday 78-57 while Green River was in a dogfight with Duchesne right up the final buzzer. Green River won 47-41.
On Thursday Rich took on Wayne County High and defeated the Badgers 60-51 in a game that was not that close either, while Green River battled Panguitch and won 48-47. In the semi-finals on Friday, Rich defeated third-ranked Monticello 56-42 after the Rebels had jumped out to a 22-4 second quarter lead. The Pirates then faced fifth-ranked Bryce Valley and battled to the 60-50 win despite the fact that Tyrell Shumway fouled out followed by TJ Hughes fouling out followed by Jon Mendez fouling out, all in the fourth quarter.
In the championship game, Green River fell behind early, lost the scoring race in each period and were never able to narrow the point deficit to seriously challenge for the title. Although the final score was a 20-point loss, the game was much closer than that up until the Pirates began fouling to try and close the gap.
This was a good season for the Pirates as they made their way back into the championship game for the first time in a while. The Pirates finished the season as co-region 19 champions with Monticello before finishing second at state. The Pirates finished the season with a 20-6 season record.
Against Duchesne, The Pirates trailed 23-22 at the half before winning each of the second half periods. Tyrell Shumway was the leading Pirate scorer in the game with 17 points. TJ Hughes scored 12 points, Jon Mendez 9 points, Chance Pfander scored 7 points and Nick Corrigan scored
2 points.
Against Panguitch, Green River won the first quarter 11-4 and led at the half 23-15. Panguitch won the second half and actually took their only
lead of the game with 37 seconds left in the game before the Pirates won the game with a basket under the hoop at the end. Hughes led the way with 27 points
and he also pulled down 8 rebounds and had a pair of steals. Mendez scored 13 points and led the team with 9 rebounds. Shumway and Pfander each scored 4 points in the game. Shumway also had 8 rebounds.
Against Bryce Valley, Green River won the first quarter 13-12, the second 14-9, the third 17-13 and the each team scored 16 in the final period. Bryce Valley got as close as 51-45 in the final quarter before the Pirates rallied at the end for the 10-point win. Pfander and Corrigan each had a basket in the final quarter but the rest of the points were scored at the free throw line. Green River went 12 for 19 at the line.
Mendez scored 16 points and had 9 rebounds and led the team in both categories. Pfander scored 15 points including eight in the second quarter when they really needed points. Chance hit four straight shots to end the quarter. Hughes finished with 13 points and had 8 rebounds. Shumway scored 5 points and also had 9 rebounds while Corrigan scored 5 points and Jovani Flores scored 6 points.
In the championship game, Hughes scored 18 points, Pfander scored 9 points, Mendez and Corrigan each scored 7 points and Shumway scored 4 points. Mendez had 11 rebounds.
Green River only shot 29.6 percent from the field in that final game compared to shooting close to 50 percent in the other three games, and indication that a team has tired legs. No one could ever say that the Pirates didn’t give it their all as they had nothing left when the final buzzer sounded.
The Pirates played hard throughout the tournament and their school, city and county should be proud of this team. Good job, Pirates.
Green River Pirates take second in state tourney
"Green River Pirate basketball team and cheerleaders celebrate their win over Bryce Valley which launched them into the championship game on Saturday night. Back: TJ Hughes, Coach Tom Hughes, Tyrell Shumway, Jon Mendez, Coach Cody Webster; middle row: Freddy Esclante, Nick Corrigan, Jovani Flores, Nate Cox, Chance Pfander, Joe Serafin, Jacob Cox, Coach Tyler Bastian. Cheerleaders: Tristen Lehnhoff, Cassidy Bastian, Justice Hatfield, Yesenia Hernandez."